BLUE DAY. The Wolf Administration recently released a press release encouraging the public to learn and act by joining #WearBlueDayPA day on Wednesday, to combat human trafficking, offer survivors resources and educate folks.
Executives from PennDOT, the Department of Health, Labor and Industry, state police and the office of Victim Advocates were joined by other advocates to discuss human trafficking, outline efforts to combat it, explain how to report potential cases and offer resources for survivors.
According to the press release, human trafficking is defined as the exploitation of people using force, fraud or coercion for the purposes of commercial sex, forced labor or domestic servitude. Currently, according to the International Labor Organization, there are approximately 28 million victims of human trafficking globally — These statistics alone are why January is recognized as Trafficking Awareness Month.
“We’re collaborating at state, national and local levels to combat this problem and urge the public to join us in the fight,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian.
Training for human trafficking awareness provided for state employees is also available online at www.penndot.pa.gov.
There is also a National Human Trafficking hotline in service 24/7 hours as a resource for victims and service providers, to reach the hotline call (888) 373-7888. Since 2007, the hotline has received over 7,760 calls and email reports in Pa. alone. In that same time frame, nearly 1,900 cases of human trafficking involving more than 4,000 victims were identified.
”The public can help police in our mission to fight human trafficking in Pennsylvania by educating themselves on the warning signs and by calling authorities when things don’t seem right,” said Lieutenant Adam Reed, Director of the PSP Communications office.
